A bill that would force students to pay back Bright Futures money for classes they drop after the Drop/Add period would save the state about $47 million in 2009-2010, according to a new cost estimate.
The estimate, released last week, predicts that more than 312,000 credit hours will be dropped by college students in Florida in 2009-2010.
If the state was reimbursed for those hours, it would save about $30 million. The other $17 million in savings would come from the part of the bill that increases the number of credit hours per year students need to take to be eligible for the full Bright Futures scholarship from 12 to 24.
Gov. Charlie Crist's budget for next fiscal year includes about $481 million for Bright Futures.
According to UF officials, implementing the bill at UF would cost $250,000 for system modifications in the first year as well as $150,000 annually for staff.
Incoming UF Student Body President Jordan Johnson, who said Bright Futures and budget cuts will be the focal points of his presidency, which begins this summer, said he agrees that Bright Futures needs to be pared down but said this bill is not the way to do it.
Students should be allowed to drop a class later in the semester without being punished if they've signed up for more than they can handle, he said.
"No one's perfect," Johnson said.
Instead, he said he'd like to see standards for the scholarship raised.
